The aim of the first leg of our journey was to visit a friend, who was also my English teacher in Algeria between my 9th and 15th birthday, and his wife, also a teacher. They live in an old farm close to Barbery, near Caen in the region of Normandy.
[disclaimer: he is a brilliant teacher and cannot be held responsible for any crap English in these posts which are not proofread as thoroughly as they probably should]
The trip from Cambridge to Barbery on the motorway was very, very wet. All was well if a bit slippery, until we switched on the heating/aircon to tackle the windshield condensation: sadly, it started blasting at 60 degrees Celsius, frying us alive. The temperature knob didn’t seem to change anything.
Cuong and I argued settings as you would between two sensible individuals, until we came to realise there is nothing sensible about this car, so we did the next logical thing, and started pushing all the buttons because “something might change”. Well it did… The windshield suddenly went completely opaque and we drove blind for about 15 seconds, which is a very long time when you’re on the five lane motorway just before the Dartford crossing! We manically reverted to steam wiping with our sleeves and to 60 degrees blast with open windows, and magically survived while feeling suitably guilty for destroying the planet.
We found out afterwards thanks to Dr Google, that “Whatever the source of the humidity, car makers advise not to use the air-recirculation button as it traps humidity inside the car, which results in misted windscreens.” I wonder. WHY IS THIS DAMN BUTTON EVEN HERE?
Anyway. Caen is a very French city, meaning there is a huge market with lots of nice food, and lots and lots of castles, abbeys, cathedral and churches.
We learnt 3 interesting things:
1. William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy then first Norman king of England, wanted to marry his cousin. The Pope didn’t like it because she was a little bit too close, bloodline-wise. So William bribed the pope by building two huge abbeys (one for the ladies and one for the men). The pope went “Oh go on then, go ahead and get married.”
2. The abbey for the men holds the relics of William the Conqueror, well his leg. Back in the day, bodies of famous people were often dug up and chopped in pieces so they could be buried in different places, sometimes put back together, etc. bones travel.
3. A local legend predicts that the English monarchy will collapse when one Caen’s main cathedral’s towers falls. Interestingly, the city is currently trying to fix a huge crack in the wall of the said cathedral.
Barbery is a very small town. We drove a few minutes from there to the end of a mud path to my teacher's house, an ex-horse farm (lots of horse racing in Caen) decorated with lots and lots of souvenirs from their 12 years in Morocco and Algeria. It's better than any museum because each memory corresponds to an experience, and this couple is exceptional in terms of strength, knowledge and kindness. Didi loved the carpets made out of goat and camel hairs which thankfully seem to have kept a bit of their original smell.
After destroying the environment with our car journey, we also broke our vegetarian diet by trying local delicacies, meaning tripes, black pudding, and paté. Some atonement to do.
Next stop and post, la Rochelle!
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